Mughal Art

Introduction

First, look at the beginner's guide to art research on our web page, ARTIFAQ. Although geared to works in the Ackland Art Museum, it includes many useful links that will be relevant to this course and others. Links to art dictionaries, aids to writing about art, museums and image resources are among the links in this online guide.

In order to do research on Mughal art, consult print library resources, electronic indexes, and Internet resources, including image or museum sites. The Art Library has a number of recent books on Mughal art, many on reserve for your class. In addition, look up the reserve titles in the online catalog and take note of the subject headings used to index them. You can then re-use those headings to find more books on the topic. Always consult the bibliographies in the books you find.

Surveys

There are a number of broad surveys of Indian art in addition to those on reserve such as The Art and Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent (Art Reference N7301.H245 1986) (See Ch. 26 and 33 for Mughal art and architecture, and bibliographies for those chapters.) Browse in the ND3247 and ND1002 sections on the 2nd floor as well. Surveys specifically on one subject such as Indian Painting: Essays in Honor of Karl J. Khandalavala (ND 1002 .I45 1995) may also be consulted.

For background on the painters themselves, Mughal Painters and their Work: a Biographical Survey and Comprehensive Catalog is essential; it also has a useful glossary and bibliography. (Art Reference ND1002 .V47 1994)

Also try keyword searching to locate material when you are not sure of the subject heading, e.g. k=mughal and empire or k=mogul and painting. The basic LC headings for a subject search (S=) are art, mogul; painting, mogul; architecture, mogul; Illumination of books and manuscripts, Mogul; Miniature painting, Mogul; and Mogul Empire. Remember that the spelling of Mughal varies (also Moghul; Mogul) so try keyword searches using all variant spellings, and when using indexes also use all variants.

Library Catalogs

You can also search other library catalogs, especially those with strengths in Asian studies, such as the Library at the Freer Gallery of Art at the Smithsonian. Access to libraries worldwide is simplified through Libweb. If you find a relevant title and we do not have it, you may request it on ILL, or it may be available from Duke, which has a very strong religion and Indian collection. If you need help with ILL, ask library staff to show you the Library's web ILL request form. It's easy to use. You can request books and periodical articles that we do not have at UNC-CH.

Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

After you're comfortable using the online catalog, an important next step is the Grove Dictionary of Art Online (also in the print edition, in Art Reference (36 volumes.) This online resource is comprehensive, updated frequently, and has many image links and excellent, authoritative bibliographies. The authors are noted scholars. You'll find that you will enjoy using this wonderful new resource! Start with the Mughal section but also look at the section on the Indian Subcontinent (not India, as that is a modern term) or individual monuments or sites (e.g. Agra.) You can search the Grove and its image component, the Bridgeman Art Library, by keyword.

You may also want to explore the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians Online for information on Mughal music, instruments, and patrons of music.

For historical background, The New Cambridge History of India is on reserve. Encyclopedia India, located in Davis Reference [DS423 .I635 1995], is a major multi volume encyclopedia.The Encyclopedia of Islam and the bibliography Index Islamicus on CD-ROM (Davis Reference) can help you research the religious context of Mughal India.

Other resources for background information on the Mughals are videos; the Art Library has a good collection such as the Great Moghuls series which you may view in the Art Library in the microreader/video room; consult the notebook at the front desk to find out more about these videos.

For reliable online information the Mughals is worth consulting. The Mughals has links to images, Islamic terminology and texts, and other resources.

Collection and Exhibition Catalogs

These are important resources; often the most current scholarship will be published in exhibition catalogs, which usually also include color plates and documentation. Collection catalogs of major Asian art-holding museums are also important, as are the web sites for those museums. See the Virtual Library Museums page to find museum websites worldwide, like the Sackler/Freer, the Victoria and Albert, Los Angeles County, Cleveland Art Museum, Musee Guimet and others with rich holdings of Indian art. To find museum catalogs in the Art Library do a subject search, e.g. s=Cleveland museum of art--catalogs.

Microforms (images)

The Art Library has two new major microfiche sets for Indian art: The Art of India: Paintings and Drawings in the Victoria and Albert Museum (in color) and Archaeological Survey of India (b&w photographs.) These fiche are located in the Microforms cabinet by the photocopier (fiche 5-254 and 5-255, at the very end of the fiche collection.) Guides to these sets are on top of the microform cabinet. The microfiche reader is in the back of the Art Library; ask staff to unlock the door for you.

Web Resources

ARTstor provides curated collections of art images and associated data for noncommercial and scholarly, non-profit educational use.

CAMIO offers rights-cleared, high-quality art images for class projects, art history and studio art programs, course Web sites, lectures, presentations, and research resources.

The Google image search engine can be used to retrieve images.

Digital South Asia Library is an excellent site which includes images, maps, bibliographies, indexes and links to other resources.

SARAI (South Asia Resource Access on the Internet) is another gateway. You'll find a link to the India Virtual Library here, well worth exploring.

Indexes and Abstracts and Journals

Journals such as Archives of Asian Art, Ars Orientalis, Artibus Asiae, Arts of Asia, Marg, Muqarnas, and Orientations, are among the journals that will include articles on Mughal art. Once you have a citation you can then locate the journals in the Art Library; they are shelved alphabetically by title on the 1st floor.

Art Full Text and BHA-Bibliography of the History of Art may be searched online. Remember to search using both Mughal and Mogul as keywords.

ABIA South and Southeast Asian Art and Archaeology Index (also one print volume in Art Reference N7260.A25) indexes a wide range of literature. (Try a simple search using the term Mughal to see the variety; click on 'record' to get full citation)

Bibliography of Asian Studies will retrieve citations for article in a wide variety of journals. While some may need to be requested via ILL, BAS is still a useful tool to identify authors writing on the topic.

Historical Abstracts includes books and journal citations; use term Mughals; history journals, which would not be located using the art historical literature, may provide good results.

PCI (Periodicals Contents Index) is another comprehensive journal index. Last but not least, full-text resources such as Proquest or Academic Search Fulltext Elite (go to Library E-Indexes page) can help you useful exhibition reviews from newspapers or articles in journals.

Return to the top